Byzantine Art

Byzantine art flourished from about 300 A.D to the 1400s. It grew out of the early Christian world. It took its name from the capital city of the Roman Empire: Byzantium (later renamed Constantinople, then Istanbul when the Ottomans captured the city in 1453).

Byzantine art was very religious. Most Byzantine art was created for the Eastern Orthodox Church. Much Byzantine art was made by servants of the courts or members of religious orders. Most of these artists remained anonymous.

Mosaics and paintings covered the domes of many churches. They were often made of precious materials such as lapis lazuli, gold and silver. Byzantine artists had to follow many rules about subject matter, content, and form. Symbolic representation was very important in Byzantine art. The subjects appear flat and fairly abstract compared to the liveliness and individualism of Western art because Byzantine artists used little shading or other techniques that would have made their subjects more lifelike.




Romanesque

Romanesque art in Western Europe was popular from about 800 A.D. to the 1100s. The name Romanesque indicates a style like that of the ancient Romans. That description is not entirely accurate, however, since Roman art was only one of many sources that inspired this period.

Romanesque art reflected the political and religious climate of the times. Europe was in upheaval, both from invading tribes and among the religions of the time: Catholicism, the Russian Orthodox Church, and Islam. Romanesque buildings had to be designed for defense, so cathedrals were massive in size.

Romanesque cathedrals were also built in the shape of a Latin cross. They were decorated with stone sculptures depicting Biblical scenes. The walls portrayed religious subjects and were painted in fresco, a durable style of painting done on wet plaster.

Most Romanesque painting took the form of church murals and illuminated manuscripts, or books. There are few Romanesque murals left, since they suffered from fading, damp air, dirt and bad restoration. And as people’s tastes changed, they scraped away or replaced old murals with new works. Most of the murals that have survived over the centuries are only fragments.





Gothic

Gothic art developed in the late Middle Ages. It lasted from about 1150 A.D. to 1400. Italian Renaissance scholars named this style "Gothic" because they thought it was barbaric and uncivilized—like the Goths who invaded Italy in the 400s.

Painting in the Gothic era was most known for the development of oil painting in Flanders. Some of the better known painters of this time are Jan van Eyck





and Roger van der Weyden.





Some of the best-known examples of Gothic art are Gothic cathedrals. Gothic architecture is known for its gigantic size and height. The invention of the flying buttresses in about 1175 made these large buildings possible. Flying buttresses reduced the amount of solid wall space needed for support and made it possible to have large stained glass windows.



Gothic sculpture was mostly used to decorate the doorways of cathedrals. It often showed figures and scenes from the Bible's Old Testament. It differed from Romanesque sculpture in that it was grander, calmer and closer to human scale.